Page 36 - Flathead Beacon // 7.20.16

KELLEY’S MARKET TRENDS 36 FLOOR SPACE 37 Real Estate
Cutting Mosquito Numbers in the Garden Helps Control Disease
BY DEAN FOSDICK OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mid-summer is shirt-sleeve weather, an enjoyable time of year to be out and about with family and friends. But it also is the heart of mosquito season, so beware the escalating health risks caused by their bites.
The No. 1 prevention practice is elim- inating any standing water that could serve as a mosquito-breeding site.
“Still water is a great environment” for the insects, said Scott Zide, founder of Mosquito Squad, a mosquito and tick control service with 200 locations around the nation. “One-hundred-plus mosquitoes can be hatched from a single bottle cap full of water.”
Things like tire swings, buckets, re pits, rain barrels, plant saucers, empty pots, clogged downspouts, ornamen- tal fountains, birdbaths, wheelbarrows, animal dishes and kids’ toys, including wading pools and upside-down Frisbees, can collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed.
“These are the kinds of things you have to turn over,” Zide said.
Some mosquitoes drop eggs that cling like glue to the sides of water- lled con- tainers, he said. “These you have to sanitize, making sure they’re cleaned and scraped o and with no water left behind.”
The life cycle of a mosquito is broken into four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. All need water to survive, with tempera- ture and species determining how long each stage lasts. Female mosquitoes gen- erally live less than two weeks.
Most mosquito bites only cause itch- ing or skin irritation, but a few of the 200- plus mosquito species in North America carry viruses acquired from birds and
This May 3, 2016 photo shows a fountain in a yard near Langley, Washington, which harbored mosquito larvae until it was emptied, cleaned and then powered up where it became a popular site for bird life. The number one mosquito control practice is eliminating any standing water that serves as a breeding site. DEAN FOSDICK VIA AP
animals that can cause debilitating dis- eases in humans, even death. Among them: malaria, dengue, equine enceph- alitis, heartworms, West Nile and Zika viruses.
“Only a handful of mosquito types feed on humans,” said Laura Harrington, an entomology professor at Cornell Uni- versity. “Some are generalists, and some mosquitoes are very speci c in their blood-host preferences.
“Mosquitoes vary in the time of day that they feed as well,” she said. Carriers of Zika, she said, “tend to feed during day- light hours, in contrast to many West Nile vectors (carriers) that feed at dusk, dawn or night.”
Some additional tips about reducing mosquito numbers in the yard:
• Covers and screens. Place tight lids on
containers used for water storage so mosquitoes can’t get inside to lay eggs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Use mesh with holes smaller than an adult mosquito to cover containers without lids.
• Irrigation. “Water right over the plant. Don’t overspray. That can produce standing water,” said Ryan Larsen, a civil engineer with NDS Inc., a water management company in Woodland Hills, California. “Install an e cient irrigation system to reduce that.”
• Ponds and water xtures. Install a pump to keep the water moving. “Small pumps work great in small ponds, but they’re not e ective as ponds get larger,” Larsen said. “Get sh that will eat mosquito larvae.”
• Remove tarps or stretch them tight.
• Team Up. Work with your neighbors, especially in neighborhoods with little space between lots, to police areas that
could a ect each other’s property.
Happy 65tH birtHday!
you are now eligible for medicare insurance coverage
We represent all major insurance companies. Call today to schedule your personal bene t review!
medicare supplements medicare advantage prescription drug plans
Founded in 1969
406-752-8576 • 406- 885-6012 750 N. Merdian • Kalispell
36
JULY 20, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM